“What the hell do you mean you don’t want to? You said you were down!”

Gilda groaned, choosing to look at the window rather than Swift. The sun was approaching its zenith. She hadn’t slept. “I was.” She held a bottle of Old Crow by the neck, the brown-gold liquid sloshing with every step as she paced. “But now I’m not; I’m as dry as a salt block.”

“Come on,” Swift pleaded. “I know how to fix that. Just give me five— no, two minutes.”

“This was a bad idea.” Gilda closed her eyes, letting her forehead rest on her open palm. “You should go.”

“You can’t just invite me over saying you’re DTF and just say no. I’m not some toy you can just turn on and off whenever you want! This is bullshit!”

Gilda ran her tongue over the inside of her mouth. She could still taste his tongue, heavy with the rough flavor of liquor. “Look, this whole thing with the king’s death, the funeral tonight... I’m just… this was a mistake. I said you should go. Just go.”

“You’re seriously gonna be a bitch about this? If you really want me to go, I’ll go, but you can forget about this ever happening again, no matter how much you want it.” He said without taking a step toward the door.

Gilda thought it over for a moment. Swift Justice had always been the strong, flag-waving patriot her father had wanted her to be. Joining Altai’s royal guard – a stupid name for a full-on military, she thought – had been the easiest decision he’d ever made. Gilda had more or less stumbled into it after her final visit to Equestria. To that one particular town which housed one particular pony. Joining up with the guard seemed the best way to ensure that no matter what she felt, she’d never have to see that stupid little hick town again.

Swift was powerful, courageous, dashing… everything she should want, but even after several tries to make herself care, all she could see when she looked at him was another nobody. She looked into his eyes, which were wide with exasperation. Shouldn’t I feel something stir when I look into his eyes? Shouldn’t I be able to lose myself in them for days; shouldn’t my chest get tight? Even for a hookup, shouldn’t I at least blush at thinking of him in me? I feel none of these things. Looking at him is just like looking at a stranger passing by on the street.

“I guess I am,” she said, breaking the agonizingly long silence. “We should be at the chancellor’s coronation anyway.” Gilda repeated the order they’d received dully.

Swift frowned, but nodded. “Come with me, then. You’re not thinking straight.”

“No.” Gilda would have been content to leave it at that, but Swift raised a querying eyebrow. “I… have some thinking to do. I’ll catch up to you in a minute.”

“Fine,” Swift snorted and left.

He hadn’t closed the door properly behind him. Gilda kicked it shut. The use of force felt good.

“A lot of whining, but no real fight. Guess I’m not that important to you, either.” The door, stoic as always, did not respond.

Gilda threw the Old Crow bottle as hard as she could. She wasn’t sure why, but its shattering against the door felt extremely satisfying. Another bottle would come cheaply anyway. She stared at the dripping remains on the tile floor. Cleaning it up would be a pain, but it was worth the satisfaction of destroying it. Fuck it; I'll deal with it later. She shuffled to the bed to try and get some sleep, and to dream of anything but Ponyville.

_

Rarity squealed as she was kicked through the doorway into the Grand Hall. She was adamant that the last of the dirt from their prison had to be brushed off her hooves before meeting royalty, regardless of the circumstances. She brushed herself off with as much dignity as she could muster, then took her first look around the lavish room.

Rows upon rows of griffins in similar garb to their captors filled the room save for the five foot wide aisle the ponies were led down. They stood with their necks straight, their shoulders pulled back, reared up on their hind legs with their arms at their sides. All of their gazes converged on one point: the massive gold throne at the end of the room and its occupant.

“Discord!” Twilight hissed, echoed by her friends.

“But of course!” he replied, taking a bow. “We’re you expecting anyone else? You wound me.”

“King Janus III, for one. Where is he? What have you done?”

Discord’s lion paw flew to his mouth. “You mean you don’t know? Oh, you poor things!” he fawned.

“What’re you talkin’ about?” Applejack growled.

A handkerchief that hadn’t been there a second ago dabbed at Discord’s glistening eyes. “I’m sorry to inform you that dear King Janus passed away shortly before I arrived. Or was it after?” The handkerchief returned to the nothingness from which it had been produced. “Linear time is so confusing.”

“More like you killed him!” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Why Rainbow Dash, you wound me! I’ve never killed anyone in my whole life… well, not directly. Although it is interesting that you bring up murder. It’s sort of why you’re here, which I’ll explain in a moment.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, Altai has a long and storied history of warfare. What you may not know, thanks to an equally storied history of whitewashing the more unpleasant aspects of their history, is how prisoners of war were treated in the ‘good old days.’” Discord made quotes in the air with his fingers.

“Because strength and independence were core values among the griffins rather than harmony, prisoners were forced to face one another in combat. The last one left standing had, in their minds, proved his worth to enter griffinn society. Actually, we’re not even a mile from where so many fought and died, in what’s now called the—”

“The Stadium Massiva!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s the second most elegant performing arts center in the entire world, next to the one in Canterlot.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “When I want your opinion on the best theater, miss Sparkle, I’ll ask for it.”

“I saw a hearth’s warming pageant there with Gilda one year…” Rainbow said quietly. “Are you really saying it used to be used for… that?”

“Yes, and to cut to the chase before I’m interrupted, it will resume its original purpose shortly. The reason you six have been brought here…” he grinned, “is to kill one another in a series of bouts for fun and education.”

“WHAT?” all six asked at once, followed by a “That doesn’t sound fun at all!” from Pinkie.

“I should have known you’d ask ‘what.’ But why ask ‘what’ when the more delicious question is ‘why?’ Oh, there are so many reasons. I’ve actually prepared a little list—” A scroll appeared in Discord’s hands, which unrolled to the floor, down the aisle, and out the door, “—which I’ll now read to you, because there’s no sense in the six of you suffering your punishment without knowing why.”

All six of the captive ponies stared at the list.

“I admit it’s a bit long, but if any of you interrupt, I’ll start again from the top even if I’m on the last word. You should know me well enough by now to know that I will.”

“But what about all your troops you have gathered here?” Rainbow butted in. “You really can’t expect them to go along with something so barbaric if they hate your guts. I may not be an egghead, but I know hated rulers don’t last very long.”

“I’d say we’ve found our volunteer for the first match,” Discord grinned. “Your point would be valid under most circumstances… but you forget that I have a certain… commanding presence. So, for your edification, Rainbow Dash, allow me to demonstrate to you true loyalty.

“You!” he pointed to a teenaged griffin in the front row, long-limbed and spindly, whom they could tell had joined up straight out of flight school. “Your eyes displease me. Remove them.”

The young griffin drove his clawed thumbs into his eyes soundlessly, blood spraying around them in a mist followed by the slow drip of his vitreous humour. Fluttershy screamed. Rarity looked away, quivering. He returned his hands to his sides and stood at attention. Blood still oozed from his shredded eye sockets, matting his feathers.

“H-how… how could you!” Rainbow yelled.

“Quite easily, dear Rainbow Dash. Were you not paying attention? Pure, unquestioning loyalty is a beautiful thing, is it not?”

“You’re a monster, making him hurt himself like that!” Applejack fumed.

“Really, now? Don’t put words in the poor bird’s mouth. How do you feel about this?”

“What pain exists in this world…” the griffin moaned, “that could outweigh the wrath of God?”

“And there you have it,” Discord crowed, clapping his hands. “Straight from the horse’s mouth. Or beak, rather.” He snapped his fingers and the griffin’s eyes returned. “A sightless soldier will do me no good. Waste not, as they say. Now then, shall we get on with the list?”

“Just suppose for a moment that the world you live in has many, many layers beyond what you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Try and imagine every single sight, sound, smell, feeling, emotion, and thought you’ve ever felt in your entire life — past, present, and future — all at once. That is the essence of true chaos, and it was the state of this world long before you beings of… order,” he spat it like a curse, “took over.”

“It could be something quite simple, something even the six of you could understand: Hate. Let’s let that word echo for a moment. Hate… Let me tell you how much I have come to hate you ponies since I was cast into this weak, mortal shell. There are approximately one-hundred trillion cells in my body at this moment, each with an average of seventeen organelles. If every organelle in every cell in my body were inscribed with the word hate, it would not equal one one billionth of the hate I feel for your kind in a single second.”

“That’s from a book!” yelled Twilight, whose ears had pricked up at the first word and had grown steadily angrier as the spiel went on.

“Twilight!” the other five hissed at her.

“Ah, yes, I should have known miss Smarty Pants would catch me on that one. It is, in fact, from a book. And I did say that I would start from the top at any interruption, but I will forgive you just this once. And only because I don’t think I could have nailed the line delivery any better than I just did. Don’t you just love it when something goes perfectly the first time?”

The six ponies looked at each other. None spoke.

“That’s a question. There won’t be any penalty for answering it.”

They shuffled their hooves, remaining silent.

Discord’s fist pounded against the throne’s armrest. “Answer the damn question!”

“Um… yes?” Twilight squeaked.

“Hm. I was hoping for more enthusiasm, but I suppose it’ll have to do.”

“It could be any one of those things; take your pick. Did you know I was a terrible test taker in school? Well, I would have been if the aether had schools. After my first imprisonment in stone, Celestia often tried to talk to me — by which I of course mean interrogate me — and whenever I was presented with a multiple choice answer, I’d choose all of them. I mean, it doesn’t really seem fair, does it? Selecting one answer over another when in the multiverse, all of them can be true at once.”

_

The individual cells weren't any better than the group cell earlier. As the heavy metal door slammed shut behind her, Pinkie found herself enveloped in darkness. Poor Rainbow Dash. It just wasn’t fair! Picked first just like that. But then, who would it have been fair to make go first? No one, that’s who.

Suddenly, brightness loomed at the end of the tunnel. Maybe if Rainbow Dash and whoever got teamed up with her put on a good enough show, everyone would be so impressed that they’d let them go! A smile started to grow, but Discord’s words replayed in her head as if cued up by her optimism and it quickly fell.

“He’s not going to let any of us go, is he? Maybe the winner at the end of it, but what kind of a win is that if you lose your very best friends?”

Pinkie curled up on the floor and was just about to cry her way into a comfortable sleep — it’d been a long time since she’d done that, and nopony feels better than right after having a big cry — when she noticed something sparkling just in front of her nose.

“Poor little Pinkie Pie…” Discord’s voice crooned. “You’re supposed to be the one to cheer everyone else up when they’re sad. Now how can you do that if you’re all saddy waddy?” The little ball of light coalesced into a shiny but transparent image of Discord parading about on her muzzle.

“You should know very well, you b-big meanie! How could you do that to Rainbow Dash?”

“To be honest, Pinkie Pie, I’d be more worried about her opponent. Especially since when I spoke to her just now, she specifically requested you.” The little Discord tapped her nose.

“W-what?”

“I’d hate to have to lose any of my friends…” Dash’s voice warbled as a tiny vision of her glimmered into existence next to Discord, chest puffed out with bravado. “I mean, me winning is pretty much a foregone conclusion, since none of them could handle the Dash. But if there was one friend I could do without, it’s definitely Pinkie Pie.” Little Dash glared at her and Pinkie whimpered.

“You’re lying! Dash would never say something so mean!”

“Perhaps, but she’ll be trying to kill you in just a few minutes. Are you really willing to take that chance.”

“Yes!”

“Hmm…” Discord stroked his inch-long goatee. “Then perhaps you need to look at this from another angle, Pinkie. After all, you can’t just let Rainbow Dash kill you without a fight. You’re an adult with responsibilities. Just think of all the ponies back in Ponyville who will be sad without Pinkie around. How many are there, Pinkie? A hundred? Two hundred?”

“…two-hundred and fifteen,” Pinkie sighed. “Two-hundred and seventeen if you count Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake.”

“And who will miss Rainbow Dash half so dearly? The five of you? That one little cripple? Maybe one of her co-workers on the weather team? Even added together, that’s such a small fraction compared to how many will miss you. Why, you might even say you’d be doing all of Ponyville a favor by not robbing them of your presence.”

“It’s still not fair! You can’t just do math with lives!” Pinkie squealed, eyes shut tight.

A massive bell rang deeply. Discord smiled.

“And there’s the signal. Think about what I’ve said while you’re out there, will you? Wanna do the countdown with me? No? I’ll just do it myself then… five, four, three, two, one!”

_

Rainbow Dash was ushered into darkness. The door slammed behind her so quickly that she feared her tail may have been caught in it. Thankfully, she found herself free to move about the cell. She hadn’t taken three steps before she tripped over something small and quivering in the darkness.

“F-fluttershy? Is that you?”

“Huh? Rainbow Dash? Oh thank goodness! I thought they were going to bring in something to hurt me.” Fluttershy sniffled.

“Never fear… your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here,” Dash offered with a half-hearted laugh. “Come here; let me see your neck.”

“My neck? But it’s too dark.” Fluttershy rose to her hooves slowly.

“I’m a weather pony, remember? I can look with my hooves.”

“Oh… please, no. It still hurts.”

“I’ll be gentle. I need to know how bad it is. If it’s going to heal over on its own or if we need to bandage it.”

"Um… okay, Rainbow Dash. I’ll trust you. It really hurt a lot, but I don’t think it went very deep.”

Rainbow Dash reached out into the black with her hooves, moving them carefully. After finding Fluttershy’s face, she traced them down gingerly to her neck. She felt a slight ridge of crusted flesh. Fluttershy cringed.

“Sorry,” Rainbow said quickly. “Well, at least it’s scabbing over. I don’t know what I would do if it was worse; I don’t think there’s anything here we can use for bandages.”

“But then, why—”

“I just needed to be sure you’re okay, okay?” Rainbow interrupted.

“Oh. Then, um, thank you.” Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Rainbow in a hug, which Rainbow returned carefully.

“Aww, how sweet.” Discord’s voice echoed through the cell. “Now kiss,” he laughed.

“Huh? Where are you! Show yourself!” Rainbow let go of Fluttershy, whipping her head around in the vain hope of spotting a gnarled horn or golden eye in the dark.

“You won’t find me in there, Rainbow Dash. I’m back on the throne, but I couldn’t help listening in on such a cute widdle couple like you two.”

“Shut up!” Rainbow growled, looking down. “You said individual cells, anyway!”

A foot-tall apparition of Discord appeared and began pacing in the dirt. “Ah, yes. I did, didn’t I? Well, what’s the point of making a rule if you don’t plan to break it? Speaking of breaking… rules, things, wanton destruction, yadda yadda, your opponent has been selected for your fight, so you’d better get ready.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at one another. “It’s not Fluttershy, is it? Is that why she’s here?” There was a slight quaver in Rainbow’s voice.

Discord responded by breaking into laughter. “Oh, no no no. Sometimes reasons are just so boring, anyway.” He regained his composure. “I offered the chance to go first to your other four friends, and Pinkie Pie jumped right on it. Did you do something recently to piss her off?” He looked down at a watch that had just appeared on his wrist. “Oh my, would you look at the time. Sorry to cut this short, but it turns out running a country, getting revenge, and preparing for war can keep you frightfully busy. I wouldn’t recommend it. Ta ta!”

And with that, he was gone.

“Do you think Pinkie would really want to hurt you?” Fluttershy asked softly.

Dash shook her head. “No way; this is Pinkie we’re talking about. I’ll bet he told her I was pissed too just so there’d be a good fight. Pinkie would never want to hurt one of her best friends.”

Fluttershy didn’t smile, but appeared to be more at ease. The worry lines disappeared from her face. “I think so too. But what are you going to do, Rainbow? When you get out there, I mean.”

“Way ahead of you, ‘Shy,” Rainbow smiled. “I was thinking we’d pantomime something that looks like an intense scuffle on the ground, giving me a chance to talk to her and make a plan. After that, it’s an old crumbly building and I’m the fastest pegasus alive. There’s just gotta be some weak spot I can bust through.”

Fluttershy pulled Rainbow into a hug. “I’ll be cheering for you from in here, even though you won’t be able to hear it. Just please, promise me one thing?”

“Anything, ‘Shy.”

“No matter what happens, and I mean no matter what, you can’t let yourself die, Rainbow. No matter what you have to do.”

“But…” Rainbow stammered, eyes widening as she thought about everything no matter whatmight encompass, “but, what about Pinkie? Are you saying that if it came to her or me, I should—”

“I know it’s not fair!” Fluttershy wailed, “and I feel awful — just awful — even saying it. Losing Pinkie would be very hard on all of us, but losing you? You’re my oldest friend and you’ve always been there to help me and save me and… and I couldn’t imagine a second of my life without you in it. So please, Dash, no matter what happens, you have to come back.”

“Fluttershy…” Dash bit her lip.

“Promise me!”

With a heavy sigh, Rainbow nodded. “I promise.”

Somewhere above, a massive bell rang deeply.

Author's Note

It will take a while to write chapter 4